By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 6, 2021) — The University of Kentucky is home to the largest survey of American dialects, which contains 90 years’ worth of linguistic data.

Started in 1929 by the American Dialect Society, the Linguistic Atlas Project (LAP) aims to collect linguistic data using a comprehensive, systematic approach. Over the course of many decades, the project has moved from various institutions — eventually landing at the University of Georgia (UGA), where it stayed for more than 25 years.

“I was introduced to the Atlas at UGA and worked on the project as a graduate student,” Allison Burkette, a professor in the Department of Linguistics in the 

By Emily Sallee

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 4, 2020) — The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that foreign language and international economics/Chinese and international studies major and Chellgren Fellow Michael Di Girolamo has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese. The Critical Language Scholarship is an intensive language and cultural immersion program for American students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities.

Administered through the U.S. Department of State, CLS is part of a

By C. Lynn Hiler T

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2020) — The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence has announced its newest class of 31 Chellgren Student Fellows.  

The Chellgren Center Student Fellows Program aligns with the university’s goal of cultivating undergraduate excellence. By providing experiences that go beyond the classroom, students become prepared for the next phase of their career, whether it be graduate school or a gap year dedicated to service. 

COVID-19 has certainly made for an unprecedented academic year. Students and professors are adhering to mask regulations in the classroom, dining halls are empty and many classes are completely online. In spite of this unexpected turn of events, Philipp Kraemer, Chellgren Chair for Undergraduate Excellence, is

The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to learning and working environments that are diverse, inclusive, and equitable for students, staff, and faculty.

We stand in solidarity with those working to confront systemic racial injustice in our communities and in the United States. We recognize the disproportionate burden of racism and other forms of violence on many within our A&S community during this time. We affirm our support of faculty, students, staff, and alumni in standing against all forms of racism, discrimination, and bias.

During this time of pandemic and continued racism and violence that especially impact marginalized communities of color, we recognize the disproportionate impact on Black and African-American people. In the context of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and here in Kentucky, Breonna Taylor and David McAtee, we affirm that

By Lindsey Piercy

The University of Kentucky has been named one of the Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars among colleges and universities for 2019-20. The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes the list annually.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State. Since its inception in 1946, the prestigious program has provided more than 390,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, while finding solutions to shared international

By Madison Dyment

When you picture Kentucky, you think “horse country.” The culture of these animals is deeply ingrained in the state; there’s the horse park, the Kentucky Derby and hundreds of idyllic horse farms dotted across the countryside. Domesticated horses are a norm for our society. What’s harder to see is the horse’s ancient history. Even harder, how linguistics has helped shed light on it. 

The NOVA documentary, “First Horse Warriors,” digs back roughly 5,500 years through history to uncover how the horse was domesticated and by whom. It seems only natural that a professor from the University of Kentucky was enlisted for the project, although his speciality may seem unexpected.

Andrew Byrd is an associate professor in linguistics at UK in the College of Arts & Sciences,

By Madison Dyment

Our world is rich in cultural differences, but the one connecting factor between all is language. Yet, as powerful as it can be to connect cultures, it can also work to promote discrimination between them. This distinct power is the largest draw of interest for Rusty Barrett, linguistics professor in the College of Arts & Sciences. 

Barrett received his bachelor’s degree in Russian Language and Literature at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After receiving a Master’s in Russian and East European Studies at Yale, Barret worked as a translator and technical writer for the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. There, he developed an immense appreciation for the subject of linguistics. 

“I did work as a technical translator for NASA,” Barrett said. “I was hired to translate Russian, but I was also asked to translate other

By Autumn Miller

The University of Kentucky is always looking for ways to ensure students have access to the best course material. With textbook prices on the rise, some students have decided to forgo buying textbooks. As an active contributor to student success, the UK Libraries started the Alternative Textbook Grant Program in 2016 to help faculty offer free or affordable course material. For the upcoming year, 10 grants are being awarded.

The Alternative Textbook Grant Program provides UK instructors with assistance in finding or creating educational material that best suits their pedagogical needs and effectively reduces their students’ financial burdens. In past years, the

By Lori Adams

The University of Kentucky has released its Dean's List for the spring 2019 semester. A total of 6,562 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance. 

To make a Dean’s List in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade-point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes. Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the Dean’s List.

The full Dean's List can be accessed by visiting: www.uky.edu/PR/News/DeansList/.

By Lindsey Piercy

As professors in the Department of Linguistics and Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Kentucky, Andrew and Brenna Byrd are dedicated to understanding how languages work, as well as the interaction between languages and the cultures of the people who speak them. Throughout their successful careers in academia, they have also strived to share their knowledge outside of the university.

Outreach is important due to the obscurity of Indo-European Studies. "Not many people know about this field, and folks only learn about it when they study multiple ancient languages, such as Latin and Greek. As you can imagine, there aren’t many people who do that," Andrew Byrd said.

Most recently, the Byrds have developed a plan to

This post contains a listing of organizations currently accepting job and internnship applications, as well as any available volunnteer opportunities. The post is divided into local and international postings. Remember, regardless of your regional or thematic concentration, work experience in your feild of interest is always important. For example, if you're interested in working in international development and working with children, starting off with an organization like the Nest can give you wonderful topical expertise in how to work with children. If you are interested in working in global health, working with an orgainzation like AVOL shows you are dedicated to health care provision both locally and internationally. This list will be updated periodically.

Local Opportunities

Comparative Politics 

By Nick Harling

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences has named the first recipients of its Inclusion Fellows program, an initiative for faculty interested in actively orchestrating and advancing efforts to build a more inclusive campus.

Fellows can develop and implement scholarly, community-building, pedagogical, mentoring and networking events, initiatives or programming. The fellowship period serves as a professional development opportunity for the fellows, as it enables them to enhance their responsibilities and bring forth new ideas and measures that will positively affect students.

“The overall goal of the Inclusion Fellows Program is to draw on and support faculty to create sustainable change to enhance inclusivity within the college,” Cristina Alcalde, associate dean of inclusion and internationalization, said. “Over the

By Lindsey Piercy

The University of Kentucky strives to be a place where people of all backgrounds are welcome. Students, faculty and staff come from different cities, states and countries — creating a truly diverse campus.

Linguistics, the study of language, is one way to measure diversity. It doesn't just have to be a foreign language, there's also diversity within the English language. For example, when referring to soft drinks, do you call them "coke" or "pop"? The answer speaks volumes about where you're from.

A fascinating project, initiated by Jennifer Cramer and Kevin McGowan, faculty members of the Department of Linguistics in the College of Arts & Sciences, aims to capture the various voices of UK. The venture, dubbed Wildcat Voices, started nearly two years ago and continues to gain

By Whitney Hale

The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that doctoral students Calah Ford and Lydia Hager and 2018 graduate Aaron Mueller have been selected to receive government-funded National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships. In addition, six other UK students received honorable mention recognition from the NSF. 

NSF Fellows receive a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees for a research-based master's or doctoral degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) field. For the 2018 competition, NSF received over 12,000 applications and made 2,000 award offers.

We are proud to announce that Aaron Mueller has been chosen to receive a National Science Foundation Grant via the Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Aaron is one of only seven awardees in Linguistics nationwide. 

The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is a critical program
in the NSF's overall strategy to develop a globally engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation's leadership in advancing science and engineering
research and innovation.

Former NSF fellows make transformative breakthroughs in STEM, are leaders in their chosen careers, and have been honored as Nobel laureates. A hallmark of GRFP is its contribution to increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce, including geographic districts. The support is for graduate study that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree in a STEM field.

Aaron is a senior

The LSA is seeking applications for the position of Student Intern at its national office in Washington, DC for the Summer 2018 semester (June - August). This is a great opportunity to learn more about the field of linguistics, the professional needs of LSA members, and the LSA’s broader agenda to advance the scientific study of language. This internship also provides exposure to the workings of a small non-profit organization based in the nation’s capital.

Interns will gain experience with writing, research, database management, social science policy, and a variety of administrative tasks. Please see the position description below for additional details. The position is open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in programs leading to a degree in linguistics or a related field.

Funding is available to support one part-time position at 32 hours per week, with

By Gail Hairston

Dozens of high school students from all over Kentucky will converge on the University of Kentucky campus today (Thursday), Jan. 25, to test their logic and linguistic skills in the 2018 North American Computational Olympiad (NACLO), hosted by the UK Department of Linguistics.

No prior knowledge of linguistics or secondary languages is necessary as the students are tested on their ability to solve linguistics puzzles. Professionals in linguistics, computational linguistics and language technologies used dozens of languages to create the engaging problems that represent cutting-edge issues in their fields.

This week’s competition reflects open round contests with an invitational round scheduled March 8. This summer, NACLO will select teams for the

Open Round: January 25, 2018 at 10:00am in William T. Young Library

The Open Round of the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO) will be hosted locally from 10:00am until 1:00pm on Thursday, January 25th in the Alumni Gallery of William T. Young Library on the main campus of the University of Kentucky.  Please register at the main NACLO web site if you are interested in participating!  The NACLO site also has many practice problems and sample problems from previous years to hone your skills on.  Driving (and parking) directions for visitors are available.  For visitors from within Lexington, campus is on

By Nate Harling

University of Kentucky linguistics professors Rusty Barrett and Andrew Hippisley have been recognized as Fellows of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA).

The LSA is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to the advancement of linguistics, the scientific study of language. Since 2006, it has named a new class of fellows every year to recognize, in their words, “distinguished contributions to the discipline.”

Barrett and Hippisley find themselves in a select group, as they make up part of a class of only eight fellows, and in elite company with fellows from previous years, including Steven Pinker and Noam Chomsky, both extremely influential figures within the linguistics community and well-respected intellectuals across a number of academic fields.

In 2006, Rusty Barrett, an associate professor in the linguistics department,

By Nate Harling

If you have been anywhere near the University of Kentucky’s Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building this month, it is more than likely you heard at least one language you have never heard before. Since the beginning of July, there have been people on campus speaking a plethora languages ranging from Mauritian Creole to Farsi to Kalaallisut, the language spoken by the indigenous people of Greenland.

Creolists Salikoko Mufwene (r) and Stéphane Térosier at the Hilary J. Boone Center.

The UK College of Arts and Sciences is hosting the Linguistics Society of America’s (LSA) biennial Linguistic Institute, the world’s largest extended gathering of linguists. Institute Program Director Jo Mackby was quick to dispel the common misconception that linguists only learn how to speak foreign languages.

“